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[1014a]
[1]
And the universal
terms which include accidents are causes; e.g., the cause of a statue
is a man, or even, generally, an animal; because Polyclitus is a man,
and man is an animal.And
even of accidental causes some are remoter or more proximate than
others; e.g., the cause of the statue might be said to be "white man"
or "cultured man," and not merely "Polyclitus" or "man."

And besides the distinction of causes as
proper and accidental , some are
termed causes in a potential and others in an
actual sense; e.g., the cause of building is either
the builder or the builder who builds.And the same distinctions in meaning as we
have already described will apply to the effects of the
causes; e.g. to this statue, or a statue, or
generally an image; and to this bronze, or bronze, or
generally material.1 And it is the same with accidental effects. Again, the
proper and accidental senses will be combined; e.g., the cause is
neither "Polyclitus" nor "a sculptor" but "the sculptor
Polyclitus."

However, these classes of cause are in
all six in number, each used in two senses. Causes are (1.)
particular, (2.) generic, (3.) accidental, (4.) generically
accidental; and these may be either stated singly or (5, 6) in
combination2;
[20]
and
further they are all either actual or potential.And there is this difference between
them, that actual and particular causes coexist or do not coexist with
their effects (e.g. this man giving medical treatment
with this man recovering his health, and
this builder with this building in course of
erection); but potential causes do not always do so; for the house and
the builder do not perish together.

"Element" means
(a) the primary immanent thing, formally indivisible into another
form, of which something is composed. E.g., the elements of a sound
are the parts of which that sound is composed and into which it is
ultimately divisible, and which are not further divisible into other
sounds formally different from themselves. If an element be divided,
the parts are formally the same as the whole: e.g., a part of water is
water; but it is not so with the syllable.(b) Those who speak of the elements of
bodies similarly mean the parts into which bodies
are ultimately divisible, and which are not further divisible into
other parts different in form. And whether they speak of one such
element or of more than one, this is what they mean.(c) The term is applied with a very
similar meaning to the "elements" of geometrical figures, and
generally to the "elements" of demonstrations; for the primary
demonstrations which are contained in a number of other demonstrations

1 Effects,
just like causes (10), may be particular or general. The
metal-worker produces (a) the bronze for a particular statue by
the sculptor, (b) bronze for a statue, (c) metal for an
image.

2 The cause of a
statue may be said to be (1) a sculptor, (2) an artist, (3)
Polyclitus, (4) a man, (5) the sculptor Polyclitus (combination
of (1) and (3)), (6) an artistic man (combination of (2) and
(4)).

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